8 Ups & 10 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Apr 22)

4. As Mundane As It Gets

AJ Styles Seth ROllins
WWE.com

The revolving door in-ring opening segment is one of WWE's most tedious weekly tropes, and while last night's wasn't the worst example of it and did an alright job of demonstrating the full breadth of Raw's new main event scene, it was too dull and formulaic to be considered an Up.

Triple H arrived as Seth Rollins' sponsor, his presence serving only to massage his own ego as he basked in 'The Kingslayer's' big babyface pop (one of the evening's few raucous reactions). He put his former charge over huge, before acknowledging that 'The Beast Slayer' had gone from hunter to hunted, confirming the night's six-man mini-tournament to cement his first Universal Title opponent.

Thus commenced the procession of potential challengers. Samoa Joe's brief promo was good, because of course it was. Rey Mysterio's was the opposite. The rest were fine, though nobody had enough time to stamp their personality on this crowded skit.

Such layouts don't do anybody any favours, and while they accomplished the modest goal of putting all the pieces in place ahead of the night's Universal Title hunt, couldn't WWE have accomplished the same thing with a website post?

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.